Gold

Gold  @ LKF Hotel 

I distinctly remember when this place just opened, there was hype everywhere. There was pages of 'congratulations' on Gold's opening in the weekly HK Mag, there was raving reviews..... the whole lot. So, instead of telling myself not to expect much as I usually do, I couldn't help but have slightly high expectations of this place... 

Isola

Isola @ IFC 

Isola is always full.... given the harbour view and the fact that its in IFC, there's no doubt why it shouldn't be. I finally got the chance to try out Isola but was quite underwhelmed with our dinner.

 

Pizza Express

Date of visit: 14th December 2010

Pizza Express @ Star St

As a last minute dinner arrangement I suggested Pizza Express at Star St which I was impressed by during the summer. It was very cool this night and we stuck to hearty food.

M, B and I shared a starter, pizza and pasta: 

"Crema di Funghi" ($54)

Creamy wild mushrooms, onion, garlic, grana padano cheese and balsamic glaze served with fresh baked bread

This thick creamy dip was very aromatic and delicious and the assorted mushroom pieces were very enjoyable, even though slightly too salty. The bread got slightly hard after it cooled down in the cold weather but that was okay. My mushroom-loving friend M mopped up this dish! 

"Parma" ($133) 

Prosciutto ham, ricotta, parmesan on a parmesan, rosemary and polenta base

I asked for the thin and crispy Roman base instead of the Neapolitan. I loved the chunks of ricotta with the salty prosciutto and was a very enjoyable pizza just as I remembered from summer. M and B also liked the pizza. 

"Pollo al Marsala" ($99) 

Penne with chicken, portabella mushrooms in a creamy marsala wine and thyme sauce,, finished with flakes of grana padano cheese

Originally we were going to order the Fusilli in mushroom sauce, but thought it was too similar to the appetizer so we opted for this new option with some protein in it. The penne was cooked perfectly al dente, and the sauce was very tasty, though I thought it could've been slightly less thick. The chicken was not the Italian marsala chicken dish, but simply breast pieces chopped up and mixed into the sauce. Not sophisticated, but sometimes simple is good!

For a no-frills pizza/pasta place, Pizza Express on Star St really delivers (I have issues with the TST and Soho branches so I can't vouch for those), and is comfort food at a high level. 

Food: ♥♥♥ 1/2 

Service: ♥♥♥

Price:$$$ ($115 pp) 

Pizza Express

Star Street Precinct, 10 Wing Fung St, 

Wanchai, Hong Kong

Tel: +852 3528 0541

208 Duecento Otto

Date: 24th September

208 Duecento Otto @ Sheung Wan

For lunch, B, M and myself made a trip to 208 Duecento Otto in hopes to find good Italian food after much hype about this restaurant since its opening earlier this year.

Stepping through the entrance and making our way upstairs to the dining hall we knew a lot of effort and money had been put into the design of the restaurant...but how about the food?

There were only two lunch sets, rather than the three which had been published on their site.... we opted for the 3-Course express lunch, each ordering different mains. 

Chopped pizza dough with basil and a little olive oil. Turned stone-cold quickly, which I didn't appreciate. Texture wasn't exactly good either - way too chewy. 

First Course

Salad of arugula and shaved parmigiano reggiano cheese, dressed in a balsamic vinaigrette with lots of pepper and salt. 

The chefs were a little too heavy-handed on the salt, but otherwise a simple and stellar salad. The serving was quite large too, but most importantly the two main ingredients - leaves and cheese were very, very fresh. Couldn't and wouldn't ask for more!

My Second Course

Margherita

The first pizza came out with the center completely soft, clearly because the pizza sauce was too liquid. So I asked them to bake it slightly longer to which they agreed, but the waiter commented that this was how pizza napoletana is meant to be.... FYI no pizzas should ever be soggy.... yes they may be soft (as in the case of Neapolitan-type bases) or crunchy/crispy, but soggy? In the end they were unable to re-fire the first uneaten pizza and made a new one for me in the end. The second one was still quite soggy in the center, but slightly better and acceptable. They could use more torn basil for flavour, but otherwise a very ordinary and unimpressive margherita. 

M's Second Course

Spaghetti with parma ham and bell peppers

Quite a small portion, and sauce was acceptable, thanks to the parma ham and adequate salt. Spaghetti was cooked al dente so it had a nice bite. 

B's Second Course

Penne with Eggplant 

This vegetarian pasta was definitely one of the blandest pastas I've tasted. The sauce was predominantly tasteless, and the oiliness of the sauce didn't help either. Eggplants, parmesan and basil did not impart adequate (if any) flavour....and the penne was a bit too chewy for me, could probably have used another minute or two in the hot water. 

Third Course

A scoop of gelato of your choice

We picked saffron (right), green apple (bottom), raspberry (left). 

The saffron was quite milky and although the saffron was not particularly strong it was quite enjoyable. 

The raspberry was tart and had bits of rasperry pulp for texture which I didn't mind, but for the masses I think straining the mixture prior to churning would've been better. 

The green apple sorbetto was my least favourite - despite the bits of green apple the icy sorbetto itself tasted a little artificial for me...

coffee....

or tea??

Despite the mediocre food, reservations are a must. This place was fully packed by 1pm, and was told they had a long wait-list for dinner time. 

Food: ♥♥

Service: ♥♥♥

Price: $$$

208 Duecento Otto

208 Hollywood Road,

Sheung Wan, Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2549 0208

Amaronis Italian Restaurant

Date of visit: 27th July 2010

Amaroni’s Italian Restaurant @ Festival Walk

After watching a movie, we decided to come here. All of us hadn’t been to Amaroni’s since…ages! So I was quite curious to see whether it was how I remembered.

I remember portions here are pretty huge, so after our bread basket of focaccia and bread crisps, we decided on a rosemary roast chicken ($168) and table-long margherita pizza ($155).

whole chicken, roasted with rosemary

Our two mains arrived together, and I first dove into the chicken – the skin wasn’t crispy so I didn’t care for it much, but the meat underneath was moist and yummy, full of natural chicken flavours and some sprinkling of the pepper on our table made it more wonderful. Not even the breast parts were dry – thumbs up!

rectangular pizza margherita

The pizza was good, but not mind-blowing. The base is not the flat crisp types (like many restaurants in Soho), but a doughier flatbread. It could have used some more time in the oven as the pieces nearer the centre was quite soggy. There was a good amount of mozzarella too, and the pizza sauce was well-seasoned. Extra strips of fresh basil wouldn’t have hurt though!

The three of us didn’t manage to finish the chicken nor the pizza even though we were ravenous at the beginning…I blame the bread basket, but what we ordered could've fed four very hungry diners =).

The waiters were friendly, and the place is clearly better suited for large groups – in fact, there were several birthdays celebrated here this night so it got a bit noisy too.

Food: ♥♥♥
Service: ♥♥♥
Price: $$$


Amaroni's Little Italy
LG132 Festival Walk, Kowloon Tong, 
Kowloon, Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2265 8818

Caffe Habitu @ Elements

On this rainy day I found some free time, so here I am blogging, trying to make this site up-to-date with my current eats =))

23rd June '10

Caffe Habitu @ Elements Mall

So my friend E and I came here for 'brunch' on a Wednesday.... I have only been to Habitu The Pier before (which by the way is closing soon...!), and so I had no idea this place requires you to order your food at the counter by the entrance before finding your own table...

Poor-ish system aside, we chose our table - with a view of the ice rink. Drinks arrived first...

Rose Milk Tea

I ordered a set, and opted to pay a little extra in order to change it to this Rose Milk Tea. Probably not a good idea after all, since it was quite watered down with a only a hint of rose scent. Yes, it looks great but taste-wise it was a disappointment. Although, I will say the barista did a pretty good job with steaming the milk - the foam was creamy, light and stiff at the same time. 

Hazelnut Habbiccino

This was E's choice. Habbiccinos have been newly added to Habitu's drink menu this year, and having tried the caramel before, I recommended my friend to try one. She chose Hazelnut, and in my opinion it was pretty good. Reminds me of Starbucks' hazelnut latte, but frozen and the blended ice was nicely done, without large chunks of ice like one would often find in Starbucks...

Prosciutto Pizza

With my set, I opted for the Prosciutto pizza ($96 with the rose milk tea), which was one of four pizza selections in Caffe Habitu. When it arrived it looked quite good I thought, but these thoughts quickly disappeared as I dug through it. It was the thin-crust variety, but the crust was so soggy it was hardly edible and safe to say the worst pizza I have eaten in a long time. The prosciutto was nice, not too salty and sliced thinly, but hardly any was given, as seen in the picture. 

All-Day Gourmet Breakfast

E's Gourmet Breakfast ($58) arrived the same time as my pizza (yay for this), but perhaps the staff had been waiting for the pizza to be ready or something which caused it to be only luke warm when it arrived. The plate consisted of sautéed mushrooms, scrambled eggs, half of a thick slice of toast, two small sausages, some baked beans and half of a grilled tomato. E liked this a lot, so I tried the eggs and sausage, both of which were quite good but better if hotter. 

What I liked about this branch was its relative quietness during weekdays, so you can read the SCMP (ask the staff for a copy) or have a good conversation with friends. I don't think I will be visiting for pizza again, but I wouldn't mind having my caffeine fix or some pastries here...!

Food: ♥♥

Service: ♥♥♥

Price: $$

Caffe Habitu

Shop 1001, 1 Austin Road West, Kowloon Station

Tel: +852 2196 8466

My first 'proper' post =)

I created this blog back in 2007....and it was originally a recipe blog, rather than a food blog. Though I love cooking, blogging about my HK-eats seem much more interesting!

For my first official post, I have decided to post about the last eatery I visited which I have not yet reviewed on openrice....and will continue from there.

Date of visit: 18th June '10

EXP  @ Festival Walk

I haven't visited EXP since last year... and I noticed some changes on their menu - the pizza selections have definitely changed and prices have increased. I chose the new 'Seafood Pizza' for tonight's dinner and taste-wise, it wasn't bad. The seafood, apart from the fish fillet, was fresh enough and the quantity of cheese good and nicely melted. My complaint however, would be that the seafood or pizza sauce was not quite dry enough, resulting in my pizza being slightly 'wet' - not good! 

This was S's Duck Breast Fried Rice. This item has been on their menu ever since they opened I believe, and was every bit as good as I remember it to be =) on top is the raw garlic mash which S chose to leave out wisely as the raw garlic was way too strong, pungent, and no doubt would leave one with bad breath. The smoked duck breast seemed to be the vacuum-packed variety, which didn't really bother either of us as it was tasty. The fried rice was not oily and very flavourful...

This affordable restaurant is definitely worthy of a visit if you're in Festival Walk. 

Food: ♥♥♥

Service: ♥

♥

Price: $$

EXP 

Shop 23, UG, Festival Walk, 80 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong

Tel: +852 

2265 8298

For dessert, we chose the banana pie (should really be called banoffee pie, no?) from Simply Life. I really only have had one other, from 798 Unit Co (TST branch) several months back, and was not impressed. This one here, moderately priced at $35 for a large slice (we took out, so no service charges) was really quite satisfying. We smartly shared it, since it was really filling after having had a full dinner. Before I go on, some pictures for you... 

Our take-out box. 

Our banana pie (I should have removed the protective sheet...oh well!)

A forkful of the pie, showing the five distinct layers - Whipped cream (white), Chocolate-banana mousse (brown), Fresh bananas (yellow), toffee (caramel), digestive cookie base (Mc Vities variety I believe). And if you see the previous pictures, there were yummy chocolate shavings on top of the pie too. 

My verdict? Compared to 798, this one rocked! A friend of mine has suggested Portobello's  (Staunton st.) Banoffee Pie, so I have yet to try that. 

Simply Life had many other cakes which I have yet to try too but will save that for my next visit to Festival Walk or IFC. 

Food: ♥♥♥

Service: ♥

♥

♥

Price: $

Simplylife Bakery Café

Shop 42, L2, Festival Walk, 80 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong

Tel: +852 

2265 7418